A boring new study published in PLoS-ONE has riled critics who read sexism into it where none exists. Blame poor journalism and ill-informed, knee-jerk reactions by people attacking things they never bothered to read. You can read my piece on Discovery News.
Gender Issues
Quoted in the Plain Dealer on Racial Bias in New Reporting
I'm quoted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on racial bias in news reports: "As author Benjamin Radford wrote last year in an analysis for Discovery News, 'If you disappear, you better hope you're young, white, female and cute, or the media may not care.'" You can read...
Mass Hysteria Confirmed at New York School
A bizarre illness affecting nearly 20 students at a Western New York Junior-Senior High school now has an official diagnosis: mass hysteria.The students, almost all of them girls, and mostly friends, began experiencing involuntary jerks and tics. Sometimes their...
‘Vogue’ Magazine Bans Anorexic Models- But Will it Help?
The editors of nearly 20 international editions of Vogue magazine agreed last week to ban from their pages all fashion models younger than 16 or "who appear to have an eating disorder." The move comes at a time when thin models are increasingly being accused of...
My Research on Barbie Quoted on Yahoo News
I recently wrote a piece for Discovery News explaining the dearth of solid research supporting the claim that girls want to look like Barbie dolls, and it was quoted in a Yahoo News piece; you can read it HERE.
Sexual Harassment in Schools Survey: Analysis of Alarmism
I recently heard about a new report claiming that half of students in grades 7 through 12 reported being sexually harassed in school. Having analyzed many media claims before (and written a book titled Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers...
Haters, Bias, and Skeptical Inquiry
“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” –Benjamin Franklin I was recently and publicly called a “fat hater” on Facebook by someone I know. It was in response to an...
Soap Stars Go Nude to Protest Age Discrimination
A group of British soap opera actresses appear naked this month in a magazine to raise awareness of age discrimination on television. The fact is that there are few good TV and film roles written for older people, male or female. Actors undeniably have a longer shelf...
Appearance on New Documentary Film Panel Discussion 9/18
"When the new documentary film Miss Representation premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, audiences were riveted, and Oprah Winfrey acquired its broadcast rights. Writer/Director Jennifer Siebel Newsom interwove stories from teenage girls with provocative interviews...